The mics go cold again this week at a rocking downtown Ferndale space once occupied by a world-record-breaking musical cafe. The property at 240…
The mics go cold again this week at a rocking downtown Ferndale space once occupied by a world-record-breaking musical cafe.
The property at 240 W Nine Mile, west of Woodward, has been Zeke’s Rock ’n‘ Roll BBQ since early 2015. The restaurant and music venue announced on Facebook that it’s closing this Thursday.
Before Zeke’s, the location was home to AJ’s Music Cafe, which twice set the Guinness world record for „Longest concert by multiple artists,“ most recently in spring 2011, when a concert with hundreds of performers ran for 360 hours (15 full days).
But the cafe — and the record — didn’t last.
The current record of 437 hours, 54 minutes and 40 seconds was set April 5,2017 by Epidemic Music Group in Stouffville, Canada (north of Toronto), according to the Guinness World Records website.
Before it was AJ’s, the location from the mid-1990s to about 2007 had belonged to Xhedos Café. It was known for its eclectic menu and as a well-respected artistic space that showcased music, poetry and art — a regular hangout for many local artists.
And before that, it was Ubiquity, an art gallery that in June 1993 hosted art by Jerry Garcia, better known as a musician with The Grateful Dead.
Marsha Miro wrote in the June 6,1993 edition of the Free Press: „You have to get in the mood. Play one of those bootleg tapes from last year’s Palace concert. Close your eyes and remember the pungent smell that built up over the audience. Get mellow.
„Now take a look at Jerry Garcia’s prints at the Ubiquity gallery in Ferndale. The images won’t be any better; they’ll just make more sense.“
The reason for Zeke’s closure a few months shy of its fourth birthday is unclear. Patrons and neighbors alike expressed an outpouring of support on the restaurant’s Facebook post.
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Free Press staff writers Mark Kurlyandchik and Bill Laitner contributed to this report.
Contact Robert Allen on Twitter @rallenMI or rallen@freepress.com.
